Tank models: Jagdpanther scalemodel… What is this??? A TANK FOR ANTS!?

~ Veroxx

1/35 scale kit by Meng Models

This time, JandersUF shows us his perverseness! BTW if you want a model like this, JandersUF is available for custom orders – just comment in this thread .

(btw he will add MOE on a model according to the number you have in WOT – just kidding)
Completed 1/35 scale German Jagdpanther (hunting panther) tank destroy, as seen after The Battle of the Bulge, western front, winter of ’44-’45. Kit by Meng, Stynylres primer, AK Real Color Paints, J Model tracks, VMS model products and pigments, oil paints b a variety of manufacturers. All OOB kit, aside from the added aftermarket metal tracks.

The Jagdpanther was a late-war effort to create an up gunned tank destroyer, using the 88mm gun seen on the Kingtiger (Tiger II), but the chassis of a Panther tank. Made in relatively low numbers, it was a good vehicle but often put into service piece meal with relatively poorly trained crews.
This model shows a Jagdpanther with the typical three-color German camouflage, covered in a partially-worn-away winter white wash field applied camo. As well you see some caked on dried mud, chipped pain, and worn surfaces.
The overall length of the vehicle, including the 88mm gun, is very impressive.
There were many minor changes made during the production run of the jagdpanther, including multiple revisions of the exhaust system. This is a late G1, with field retro-fitted Flammvernichter (basically flame/visual suppressors) installed on the exhaust system.
Perhaps my favorite shot of the model, I love the look of the streaked white wash, and various shades of dirt and grime on the side of the casement. You can see the rectangular block of missing white wash, where the jack block was sitting when they painted the white wash on…
Rear deck, showing fluid stains, dirt, grime, and chipped white wash.
The kit box, with a couple of inspiration historic images (especially the bottom one!)
To make this, first I painted the camo, then a layer of hairspray, then a thinned white paint which was chipped away (SBS below). However, it all looked monotone and flat, so oil paints (and a few other tricks) were used to add dirt, stains, and color variation to this worn white wash. Especially visible up on the roof, including spots the crew has used to set up and into the vehicle.
A zoomed view of the roof. Aside from the hatches, at the bottom right there is a turning periscope used with the main gun, multiple smaller periscopes allow visualization in most directions, and a ventilation unit is toward the top middle.
Zoomed view of the glacis at the front, including the weld marks and the yellow staining of the white wash. Also nicely seen are the polished contact points of the tracks, which would show as bright metal on a real tank.
The left side driver wheel, with obviously worn and scuffed road wheels. As you can see, the guide horns on the tracks are hollow, which took a bit of extra work.
Zoomed view of the fender; I spent extra time thinning it and using oils to give the appearance its really made of sheet metal.
Left font fender, with the head light and on the far right, you can see a chipped up tow hook mounted on the side of the vehicle.
looking up under the tank, you can see caked on mud and dirt…
A better view of the tools attached on the left side. At the top, one of my favorite details– the “ghost” of the tow rope which was in place when the white wash was sprayed. If you look at my historic source photo, the real tank destroyer had this flaw in its whitewash.
Different angle of the roof.
Detail shot of the rear storage boxes, and the spare tracks on the side.
An odd feature of this vehicle— when the hull machine gun was NOT in use, you could bring it back inside the hull and put this weather-proof plug into place. Once in combat, you could push it out and deploy the MG… and the chain retains your plug for next time!
Rear-quart view.
Business view. I love how the dirt-stained whitewash looks on the front. I really enjoyed trying to do each side / front / back of the vehicle with a slightly different story.
The left side I did with more of the white wash melted off, letting you see the marking numbers and pain underneath.
A better view of the worn away left sided white wash. The rectangle centered in the image was the mount to hold a long tube which contained the gun cleaning equipment. My tank lost this somewhere…
Whereas I put some new “touch up” white wash on the right side, with sloppy hand-applied drips and big contrasting stains.
The spare tracks weren’t spared the mess.
The Box art! Sweeeeeeeeet. Some quick build picture follow–
As you see, the base kit comes with a fair amount of photo etch metal to add to the plastic styrene for extra life like detail.
The base coat is a yellow-brown Dunkelgelb
I used “panzer putty”, a silicon-based silly-putty, to mask out the camo.
Next we added german red-brown (RotBraun)
And lastly olive green (Olivgrun). All paints by AK Real Color, thinned with MLT.
Looks pretty toy-like at this stage.
Then it was coated in hairspray, and a thin layer of Tamiya white (and a pinch of deck tan) thinned with water was sprayed on…
And a moist brush was used to wash away a lot of this! Additionally, UMP Clay-based white wash was used to add a bit more depth to this effect.
Then you add a bunch of oils, and pigments… and you get this!
Or this!
keeping your brush strokes mostly vertical adds to the illusion of a rain-washed whitewash.
Thanks for checking out my model! Questions? Ask Away! Want to see more? Check my galleries and follow me on Instagram @scalemodeldoc